This application is based on Patent Application No. 2000-365788 filed Nov. 30, 2000 in Japan, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape application apparatus for applying an adhesive tape with a strip form along a tape application surface formed on a work, with peeling off from a release liner.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is desirable in view of restraining reflection of light from a window frame (door sash) formed on a door panel of an automotive vehicle when viewed from the outside of the vehicle, particularly from the side of a vehicle body and hence securely obtaining a clear-cut view of the entire vehicle body to color with frosted black the inside and the outside of the window frame.
For this purpose, it has been conventionally performed to perform spray painting of frosted black paint on the window frame. However, spray painting encounters various problems as requiring investment for additional facility for maintaining work environment good enough, taking a long period for drying paint, and so forth. As a solution for such drawback, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 51-135015 (1976) or Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 62-46780 (1987) proposes application of frosted black adhesive tape having high weather resistance and high wear resistance on the window frame, in place. In such case, as is well known, since the most part of the window frame of the automotive vehicle is consisted of three-dimensional curved portion, the above-mentioned adhesive tape application apparatus inherently becomes large scale. Also, when such adhesive tape application apparatus is installed in a practical production line, an investment for production line becomes huge. In addition, it has poor flexibility in adapting to modification of design of the window frame, and has poor general-purpose properties.
Although it can be considered that the operation for application of the adhesive tape is performed manually by the worker without using any device, in order to accurately perform applying operation at a speed adapted to the production line of the automotive vehicle, quite high skill is required.
Thus, there has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-338627 (1993), a tape application device which can easily and quickly perform application of the adhesive tape without requiring high skill of the worker. By employing the tape application device, the adhesive tape can be accurately applied at a predetermined position of the window frame easily and quickly without requiring high skill of the worker. In addition, apparatus for automatically assembling a weather strip onto the door sash, such as those disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2-221582 (1990), 3-166068 (1991) or Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5-65298 (1993), are applicable.
However, the tape application apparatus of the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 5-338627 (1993) suffers from difficulties that it has a complicated structure with many movable parts to result in the high manufacturing cost, and further that it is fundamentally difficult to adapt the apparatus to a vertical window frame which has different widths up and down because it is premised on the use of a predetermined width tape. With respect to this difficulty a tape application apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-159165 is for a vertical window frame having its width different at upper and lower portions continuously, in which although accurate application work is likely, workability should be improved. These tape application apparatuses lack also generality for varieties of works having different widths, and require a tape application apparatus corresponding to any one work every time.
Further, when the weather strip mounting apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2-221582, 3-166068 or Japanese Patent Application Publication No.5-65298 is applied for the tape application device, a space becomes necessary for installation of a manipulator in addition for spaces required for holding a door panel and a positioning device. Then, the manufacturing line cannot be adapted for further requirement of the space unless modifying the manufacturing line of the vehicle.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tape application apparatus capable of accurately applying an adhesive tape on the surfaces of a plurality of works each having different sizes of the widths of tape application surfaces and on the surface of a vertical window frame of a door panel having the size of a width thereof that continuously increases and decreases longitudinally easily and rapidly even by workers skilled in the art.
A tape application apparatus according to the present invention, which is mounted removably on a work for applying an adhesive tape peeled off from release liner to a tape application surface formed on the work, comprises:
a main frame;
a pair of first guide rollers mounted rotatably around an axis in parallel to a first direction with respect to the main frame;
a sub-frame mounted movably with respect to the main frame along a second direction in perpendicular to a plane involving an axis of the first guide rollers;
biasing means for biasing the sub-frame to the side of the first guide rollers;
a pair of second guide rollers mounted rotatably around the axis in parallel to the first direction with respect to the sub-frame so as to face the first guide rollers for movably holding the main frame and the sub-frame along the tape application surface;
a pressure roller mounted rotatably on the main frame around an axis in parallel to the second direction, and being rotatable in the state where the adhesive tape is wound therearound and pressed against the tape application surface;
a tape guide plate with a base end mounted rotatably with respect to the main frame around an axis in perpendicular to the first direction; and
tape guide plate holding means capable of holding a rotating position of the tape guide plate with respect to the main frame such that a gap is formed for guiding the adhesive tape with release liner with the tape guide plate and the pressure roller.
In accordance with the present invention, a tip end of the adhesive tape is peeled off from the release liner and is then applied on the tape application surface of the work at an application starting position on the work. The sub-frame is operated against biasing force by biasing means to push the tape application apparatus against the work at a predetermined position of the same in the state where an interval between the first and second guide rollers is extended, whereby operation force against the sub-frame is released to engage the first guide rollers and the second guide rollers at the predetermined position on the work with the biasing means. In this state, restraint of a tape guide plate by the tape guide plate holding means is released to open the tape guide plate and hence wind the adhesive tape with release liner on the pressure roller, and the tip end of the release liner is taken out to a front side in the application direction of the adhesive tape with respect to the tape application surface. Successively, the tape guide plate is operated to hold the adhesive tape with release liner in a gap between it and the pressure roller and hold this rotating position of the tape guide plate with the tape guide plate holding means.
Thereafter, the main frame is moved along the tape application surface while being guided with the first and second guide rollers. Therefore, the adhesive tape peeled off from the release liner is pressed against the tape application surface by the pressure roller and is applied on the tape application surface. Simultaneously, the release liner is derived to the front side of the adhesive tape along the direction of the application of the adhesive tape.
In accordance with the tape application apparatus of the present invention, on the tape application surfaces of various works having different sizes of the widths the adhesive tapes corresponding to thereto are successfully applied easily and accurately.
The tape application apparatus according to the present invention may further comprise:
a roller holder mounted rotatably around an axis in perpendicular to the first direction and being rotatable to a working position and an escape position;
a roller shaft mounted on the roller holder at a base end thereof and having an axis in parallel to the second direction at the working position of the roller holder; and
roller shaft holding means capable of holding the tip end of the roller shaft at the working position, the pressure roller being mounted rotatably on the roller shaft. In this case, winding operation for the adhesive tape with release liner on the pressure roller is achieved very easily.
It is possible to further comprise holding means for holding the roller holder at the escape position. The holding means may be one utilizing magnetic force, whereby a mechanism of the tape application apparatus is simplified. The roller holder may be rotatable around an axis in parallel to a third direction also in perpendicular to the second direction.
The tape application apparatus may be further comprised a stopper for restraining the movement of the sub-frame toward the side of the first guide rollers against the biasing force of the biasing means. In this case, it is possible to restrain the operation to the sub-frame to the minimum upon the tape application apparatus being mounted on the work to improve workability.
It may be allowed at the work starting position for the work to further comprise a hook for temporarily hooking the main frame on an upper end of the work. In this situation, it is securely possible to hold the tape application apparatus at the work starting position for the work even though the biasing force by the biasing means is not increased, and it is further possible to reduce the operation force upon the tape application apparatus being moved along the tape application surface.
The base end of the tape guide plate may be rotatable around the axis in parallel to the third direction also in perpendicular to the second direction.
The base end of the tape guide plate may be mounted on the one end side of the main frame extending along the second direction, and the roller holder may be mounted on the other end side of the main frame extending along the second direction.
The tape guide plate holding means may utilize a magnetic force. In this case, it is possible to simplify the mechanism of the tape application apparatus.
The sub-frame may include a lug for displacing the sub-frame such that the sub-frame is separated from the first guide rollers against the biasing force by the biasing means. In this situation, it is possible to easily achieve the operation for the sub-frame upon the tape application apparatus being engaged with the work.
A surface involving axes of the second guide rollers may be inclined with respect to a surface involving axes of the first guide rollers such that an interval between the first guide rollers and the second guide rollers disposed on one side in a third direction extending perpendicularly to the first and second directions becomes wider than an interval between the first guide rollers and the second guide rollers disposed on the other side. In this case, it is possible to apply, even on the work having the tape application surface having its width size that is continuously increased and decreased, the corresponding adhesive tape easily and accurately.
The first guide roller and the second guide roller are preferably disposed along the third direction, on one side of the third direction from the pressure roller. In this case, even on the work having the tape application surface, whose width size is continuously increased, for example even on the surface of a door panel of a vehicle where the tape application surface is the surface of the longitudinal window frame it is possible to smoothly pass the adhesive tape with release liner to the tape application surface, and hence it is possible to apply the adhesive tape to the longitudinal window frame easily and accurately even by persons not skilled in the art.
Then, the work is the door panel of the vehicle, and the tape application surface may be the surface of the longitudinal window frame of the door panel.
The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.